St. Louis

Chris Taylor Hits 1st Career Walk-off Homer as Dodgers Stay in 1st Place in NL West

Chris Taylor hit a high-arching, solo home run to left field in the 10th inning, lifting the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies that extended Los Angeles' NL West lead to 1 ½ games on Tuesday night.

It's been a season of struggles for Chris Taylor. 

The Dodgers breakout star in 2017 has failed to live up to last season's success this season. After a .288 average and a leadoff homer in Game 1 of the World Series, Taylor is batting just .248 this season and has a team-high 166 strikeouts (20 more than any other player). 

"There's been a lot of ups and downs," admitted Taylor. "This game humbles you really fast."

After belting a career-high 21 homers last season and winning co-MVP in the NLCS, Taylor has hit just 16 homers this season. 

Well, make that 17...

Taylor hit the first game-winning walk-off homer of his career in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the rival Colorado Rockies, 3-2, to extend their NL West lead to 1.5 games on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

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Taylor called the home run the biggest of his career, and he knew it as soon as he hit it, as he raised his right arm in the air before rounding the bases, watching it sail halfway up the pavillion in left-center before getting a gatorade bath at home plate as he was mobbed by his teammates.

"It's a big series," said Taylor who called it the 'biggest home run of his career.' "The moment of the game, and it was my first walk-off home run. In this tight division race, I just felt like this was a big game for us to extend the lead."

The homer came off Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino who has had a sensational season up til this point, but couldn't get the second out of the inning and help his team move back into first place.

"I got to two strikes and just tried to shorten up to see it," said Taylor. "Luckily, he hung a slider and I got the barrel to it."

A day after moving past the Rockies into first place, the defending NL champion Dodgers matched their largest divisional lead of the season on Taylor's one-out drive.

The Dodgers won the series opener 8-2 on homers by Joc Pederson and Max Muncy and will now go for the sweep with rookie Walker Buehler on the mound on Wednesday.

Dylan Floro (6-3) got the win by striking out two in the 10th.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings. He walked five and struck out three.

"It was a lot," Kershaw said of his five walks. "I just tried to re-focus. Sometimes you're going to have traffic and have to pitch through things. I stayed out of the middle, but just not on the plate."

Despite his struggles in the game, especially with command, Kershaw was able to grind through seven solid innings, and is 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA in the second half of the season.

"I consistently try to be the same out there every fifth day," said Kershaw. "But every pitch is a little bit more intensity just because of the situation...it meant a little bit more tonight for sure."

Kenta Maeda relieved Kershaw and struck out the side in the eighth. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth, allowing a leadoff hit to Gerardo Parra before retiring the next three batters.

Rockies starter Kyle Freeland allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked four.

The Dodgers tied it 2-all in the fifth when Austin Barnes scored on a throwing error by third baseman Nolan Arenado.

Colorado took a 2-1 lead on Charlie Blackmon's 27th homer in the fifth.

"I didn't give up too many hits, except for the one big swing by Blackmon," said Kershaw of the homer he allowed. "Other than that I thought for the most part it was okay."

The Rockies tied it 1-all in the third on errors by third baseman Justin Turner and left fielder Taylor. DJ LeMahieu was safe at first when the ball went past Turner's glove, which allowed Garrett Hampson to take third and Blackmon to advance to second. The ball went into left field where Taylor couldn't field it cleanly, allowing Hampson to score.

The Dodgers led 1-0 on Matt Kemp's RBI single in the first. Kemp is batting .355 with runners in scoring position this season, currently the second best mark in the National League.

The victory was the Dodgers sixth walk-off win of the season and second walk-off hit (July 7, 2017 vs. Arizona) of Taylor's career. 

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rockies: SS Trevor Story has inflammation in his right elbow, but there's no structural damage and it's possible he can return to the lineup in a few days. He tweaked his elbow on a throw in the first inning Monday night and aggravated it on a swing in the fourth.

UP NEXT

LHP Tyler Anderson (6-9, 4.82 ERA) starts the series finale for the Rockies. He held the Giants to two runs over six innings in his last outing after overcoming mechanical issues. RHP Walker Buehler (7-5, 2.88) goes for the Dodgers. He's coming off an eight-inning, nine-strikeout performance against St. Louis.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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